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Osun Polls: NYSC’s DG Warns Corps Members Against Electoral Practices

Published

3 years ago

July 15, 2022

….As Security Agencies promise maximum security for CMs

Joel Ajayi
The Director General of National Youth Service Corps, Brigadier General Muhammad Kaku Fadah has warned the Corps Members that will perform election duties during the Osun State Gubernatorial Election to strictly abide by the electoral laws.

He said anyone found wanting would be sanctioned accordingly.
He stated this today in Osogbo while addressing the Corps Members who have undergone training as adhoc staff by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

General Fadah urged them to remain neutral and perform their election duties with diligence and as good ambassadors of the NYSC.

“Your colleagues did in successfully in Ekiti and l believe you will also do us proud here in Osun State.

Avoid sharp practices, avoid taking gratifications, don’t take sides, play according to the rules of the game and be security conscious”, he said.

General Fadah also visited security agencies in the state to canvass for security for the Corps Members on election duties.
At the Army Engineer Construction and Command in Ede, the DG commended the cordial relationship between NYSC and the military command.

The Commander, ECC Ede, Brigadier General Suleman applauded the Director General for finding time to check the Corps Members on election duties.

“We will continue to partner with you to ensure the safety of all Corps during and after the election”, he said.

Also at the State Police Headquarters in Osogbo, the Coordinating DIG for Osun Election, Mr Johnson Babatunde Kokumo reiterated maximum security for the Corps Members.

He commended the Management of the Scheme for mentoring Corps Members for national assignments.

“Corps Members are our children and our priority. We will not relent in our efforts towards ensuring their safety”, he said.

Similarly, the Osun State Director, Department of State Services, Mr Bankole Alade, while hosting General Muhammad Fadah in his office in Osogbo assured of a stronger synergy with NYSC adding that, “we will continue to do the needful to protect Corps Members during and after the elections including all the Corps Lodges within the State”.

Also in his remarks, the Deputy Controller General, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, Mr Mungadi Dauda Danladi on behalf of the Controller General of NSCDC, described Corps Members as invaluable assets in the conduct of free, fair and credible elections in the country.

He promised the readiness of the NSCDC for Corps Members’ safety across the state.

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ELECTING A POPE: THE BURDEN OF MAKING CHOICES

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2025

The Gleamer

By Olubunmi Mayaki

“Habemus papam!” which in the English Language means, “We have a Pope.” was pronounced by Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, a French Catholic prelate, His Eminence, Cardinal Dominique Mamberti from the iconic loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican City on Thursday 8 May 2025 after white smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. Those Latin words proclaimed to a tensed global audience the result of the election of a new Supreme Pontiff after the death of Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Pope Francis) on 21 April 2025 at the age of 88 years.

The Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, Cardinal Robert Prevost (Pope Leo XIV) emerged as primus inter pares (first among equals) from the cardinals after undergoing detailed election rituals, which have been the process of selecting the head of the 2000-year-old Catholic Church for centuries.

A papal conclave, the process by which a new Pope is selected, was held consisting of one hundred and thirty-three (133) College of Cardinals, drawn from different parts of the world converged at St. Peter’s Basilica for a public mass before heading to the Sistine Chapel to cast their votes to elect the 267th Pope. During the mass, part of the choir renditions reminded voters to remember their last day when they would stand before God in judgment to render their stewardship on earth, which is to prevent them from rigging the voting process. At the behest of the senior cardinal deacon, voting formalities were read to the electors, which included- oath-taking- “I call as my witness Christ the Lord, who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one whom I believe should be elected according to God”. Other processes are banning phones, jamming calls, forbidding speaking or contacting any of the candidates, voting rounds, spiritual pauses etc.

Looking at the voting process, one should be curious about how an election to pick a leader for a religious body could be so systematic and attract such global attention. It is a sharp contrast to elections where political leaders are chosen. Even in the so-called advanced democracies, we have seen electoral flaws and a dearth of political leaders. States are finding it difficult to pick genuine statesmen, giving rise to hegemonic leaders. These political imperia ums are emerging and stoking crises in their domain. Fallouts of elections are no longer favourable due to unpopular candidates forced on citizens.

Africa, as a case study, shows that no matter the rules put in place by the continent’s leaders, our election processes have been fraught with rigging, corruption and waste. In most cases, the leaders who set the rules are the violators of the same process. Governments conspire with electoral bodies to truncate election processes at will. Such political brigandage has destroyed the progress of the continent.

Closing this view, I hope that African leaders will take a cue from the Catholic Church’s election process to reinvigorate and rejig the continent’s faltering political process for the good of its people. Better still; political scholars from the continent can study the Catholic model. The common features of elections in most parts of Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, are riddled with vote rigging, violence, human rights abuse, repression, barbarism, crises, untold hardship, and sometimes, outright war. This is the bane of Africa’s development.

The burden of making good political choices should ordinarily rest on citizens. However, politicians have hijacked this process for selfish reasons. It has given birth to bad leaders. If we fail to get it right, what we see is what we get. That is the story of the world politics!

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